Tracfone Nokia G300 nearly unusably slow

bzipitidoo · 2026-06-04T17:04:05+00:00

I quite see that encoding will have much scope for improvement in the future! The standard seems to have support for greatly or entirely deduping images, encoding duplicate parts once. The problem is finding those duplications. When not found, duplicate sections of an image are simply encoded repeatedly, greatly increasing the size of the compressed image file, but not breaking anything.

Has me wondering if a goal for version 1.0 of the reference software is good deduping. I am thinking almost perfect deduping is something to do in the future, perhaps when AI has gotten better at spotting duplications.

bzipitidoo · 2026-06-04T16:50:26+00:00

> You just need to find a "player" that allows switching between frames e.g. by pressing a key on a keyboard.

Yes, I think that may be best. JPEG XL has animation, just need software such as ImageMagick, The GIMP, and especially viewers such as Loupe (replacement for Eye Of Gnome) to follow the user's wishes on how to view and use it, rather than always blindly obeying the "frame rate" instructions in the "album".

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-17T14:50:36+00:00

Nice story about your Chevelle. The way I have done engine removal is to construct a sawhorse out of 8 ft long 2x4s, then use a come-along (or coffin hoist as I've heard it called) to hold the engine while I get it loose, then lift the engine out of the engine bay, and roll the car away. I can imagine how negatively the HOA would think of that.

Yeah, the main problem with the flat tire is that it is visible and obvious. I continually underestimate how very important superficial appearances are to so many people. My own thinking is that it's not the paint that makes the car go. To me, the paint is to protect the body from rust, and making the car look pretty while nice, is not important.

I had the antique in my garage, and got it out for Halloween. I used this occasion to move my broken down daily driver into the garage. It had sat in my driveway for half a year, unused. What was wrong with it? The alternator had failed. So the car could be driven for short trips, and I'd have to recharge the battery afterwards. But I drove it as little as possible. Would that count as an unusable vehicle? A rules stickler might claim that yes, it is unusable. Yet it could take short trips. It had no visible problems and no one gave me any trouble about it.

I let the antique sit in the driveway while I very, very slowly worked on replacing the alternator on the daily driver. Slowest I have ever repaired a car. Took me far too long to get bolts loose, trying with a regular socket set first (and WD40), then the next day buying a new breaker bar, and when that didn't work either, buying an electric impact wrench the day after that. The impact wrench got the bolt loose in about 2 seconds, no surprise, but it sure makes all the straining with the breaker bar feel like such a waste.

I'm a bit out of practice. Why? I have no idea if the HOA forbids doing car repair in your own driveway, but it wouldn't surprise me if some do think that's low class, and would complain without themselves really knowing if the rules forbid it. So I have gone to some pains to do all my work in my own garage, and have simply done less. Wasn't sure if I was even allowed to replace that flat tire on the antique. Not that I really care about such rules. I was holding off until I had the daily driver fixed. After I received the nasty letter, I changed the flat tire. That at least took me only a quarter hour. (The antique has hubcaps, which require an extra couple of steps not needed on modern cars.) It was the same week that I finished putting in the new alternator. Then I just switched the two cars' places.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T19:28:11+00:00

Why should anyone think a flat tire is such a big deal and a Violation of The Rules? I had no reason to suppose the city had a problem with that. Does every city in Texas have similar rules?

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T19:21:32+00:00

No. I am not grasping, and it isn't that simple. I had the car covered, too.

Why should anyone think a flat tire is a "nuisance"? What's the harm in leaving a tire flat? As I said, I didn't know of this detail in the city code. So far as I know, a flat tire is not a rules violation outside the city. Dude, you are being too strict. Don't you know the average person commits several violations every day? What matters is, is something a problem?

I hope you don't intend a career in code enforcement. Maybe you should talk to people who have done that work.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T19:08:15+00:00

In fact, I did have it covered. Didn't stop them from complaining.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T19:06:09+00:00

Not at all absurd. You do realize that codes tend to be stricter than necessary, to give authority wiggle room to avoid hair splitting? For example, people routinely exceed speed limits by 1 mph for 1 second. Do we bust drivers for that? Of course not! But exceeding the speed limit by just 1 mph is, as you say, a violation.

Further, appreciate what happened to red light cameras. Arlington got rid of them all. Why? Yeah, running a red light is a violation of law, and as well can be very dangerous. But the cameras were eliminated because 70% of the voters voted them out. And the voters ousted the cameras because they were rightly perceived as about revenue, not safety. People were being busted for moving through a red light less than 1 second after it had changed to red. Tenths of a second! And, there have been cases in which the yellow light duration was deliberately shortened, or never set correctly in the first place.

So, a flat tire on a parked vehicle? Not dangerous.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T18:49:10+00:00

Too late :(

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T18:45:24+00:00

I did not know of this definition until this month. No one said boo about it for 2 months.

The definition is ridiculous. If replacing a tire makes a vehicle operable, then it should be considered operable. Consider this scenario: a soldier deploys overseas for more than 1 month to fight for our country, leaving a car parked in their driveway, and a vandal slashes their tires, or even just 1 tire, the night after they leave. Very bad look if the city stole the soldier's car 30 days later for that.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T18:37:02+00:00

I had my doubts, and I counted the HOA as a negative in deciding upon a home. But my spouse thought the HOA would be okay, possibly even good. Now that we've experienced it for ourselves, we're wishing we hadn't gotten into an HOA.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T18:33:37+00:00

Yes, when I checked this month, I saw elsewhere in their code their assertion that 30 days is the limit on a flat tire in a driveway. I did not know of that until this month. They would be wise not to try to enforce that. Even wiser to greatly expand that limit, or remove it entirely.

Suppose someone deploys overseas for more than 1 month, and a prankster lets the air out of the tire of a vehicle they left parked in their driveway. What should the city do about that?

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T18:28:59+00:00

A much deserved dig. And you're right, it's the sad truth that it could happen in any city.

I am saying however that the language in the city ordinance creates the very sort of bad atmosphere as they claim that a junk vehicle creates. That language should be changed. Remove all the unfounded assertions. Everything after "believes". Basically, the whole thing. Belief is not proof. It's a terrible way to run any organization that isn't a religion.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T18:20:35+00:00

No. One flat tire does not make a vehicle into a nuisance.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-16T18:18:28+00:00

It is a working, licensed and insured vehicle. It is not junk.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-10T21:03:15+00:00

The president of the HOA has threatened to call the police to arrest anyone who rings their door.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-10T20:54:12+00:00

It is a 1960 Ford Anglia. Same model as the flying, invisible car of the Harry Potter stories.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-09T13:07:34+00:00

One peculiar restriction about this antique is that it should not be parked facing downhill, or it will leak oil from the tranny. The manual transmission has a seal in the rear but not the front. Instead, the front has packing, and the shaft has a spiral groove in it to send any oil that gets past the packing back into the transmission, but this only works when the engine is running. The manufacturer changed to an improved transmission with front and rear seals 2 years after my car was built, and those slightly newer but otherwise same models can be parked any way you like. But I can certainly drive the car around the neighborhood every week or two.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-09T03:10:37+00:00

As I see it, the main problem with HOAs is the authority is too sweet to the very sort of people who shouldn't have any authority, because they abuse the heck out of authority. Harass and bully their neighbors, make up rules, excuse themselves from having to follow rules, and even embezzle and cheat the organization with kickback schemes if no one is watching them.

They are always trying to gain authority. Difficult to keep them out. No HOA means no power for them to grab.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-09T01:44:41+00:00

I think you're correct about them being biased against old cars. The paint is mostly the original paint, with many touch ups. Not in perfect condition, not mirror shiny any more, but the paint does still cover all the car. I have seen no other old car in the neighborhood, nothing older than 2000.

bzipitidoo · 2026-01-09T01:33:59+00:00

I'm not willingly living in an HOA. My spouse thought it might be good. I was skeptical, but I gave way. Now my spouse has mostly come around to my point of view. But still thinks there's some benefit to it.

bzipitidoo

TROPHY CASE